Coroner wants warnings over wheat bag fire risk

Margaret Rae was killed by a house fire started by a wheat bag in her bed.

ABC TV

A coroner investigating the death of an 80-year-old Sydney woman in a fire has recommended a public awareness campaign about the risks posed by wheat bags.

In September 2011 Margaret Rae microwaved a wheat bag before putting it in her bed.

She was sitting in the lounge room of her Caringbah unit when the bag caught fire and after being found unconscious she died in hospital the next day.

Deputy State Coroner Paul MacMahon has looked into her death and at fires at Padstow and Darling Point also linked to wheat bags that spontaneously combusted after being heated in microwaves.

The inquest heard the three fires were within nine months of each other.

The coroner found Margaret Rae died from smoke inhalation.

"The cause of her death was complications of inhalation of the products of combustion that occurred following a fire in the bedroom of her home," he said.

"It was caused by the ignition of a microwavable personal warmer commonly known as a wheat bag or wheat pack that she had placed in her bed."

Coroner MacMahon has made a number of recommendations including that Fire and Rescue New South Wales and New South Wales Fair Trading develop a public awareness campaign highlighting the fire risks associated with the use of wheat bags, and risks with the elderly and young people using them.

He also recommended that the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) revises its classification of risk for them.

Coroner MacMahon also recommended that current research by Fire and Rescue New South Wales into the fire risks be further developed, and that Standards Australia considers an Australian Standard for them.